ABHMS grant helps children attend child care program

Thanks to a $3,000 grant from American Baptist Home Mission Societies, three children were able to attend First Baptist Child Care Center at First Baptist Church, Alliance, Ohio.

“We were able to give $1,000 to three families in our program who all struggle in some way,” writes Samantha Michna, director of the center, which provides care for children aged 18 months to 12 years. For school-aged children, it offers before-school and after-school care as well as care for school breaks and summer. A half-day preschool program runs according to the school year.

While all recipient families were grateful, one sent a thank you note that reads: “Thank you so much for thinking of us and choosing our child for the $1,000 scholarship! You have no idea what that did for us.”

The family that sent the card has experienced a number of struggles over the past year. A kindergartener last year, the child has attended the center for most of his life. He was recently taken in by his grandparents because his parents could no longer care for him. The grandparents had little funds to send him to the center, yet were now responsible for debt that had accrued on the child’s account. While the grandparents worked at paying off the debt, it kept growing as the child continued to attend. The grandmother, who had retired a few years earlier, now had to return to work. The family would have had to pull the child out of the program without the grant support.

While all three families faced different obstacles, “they were reassured,” writes Michna, “that this center is a place of caring, loving people who are going to always put the well-being of the children first.”